Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Delano Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Delano, California 93215
Saturday, December 30, 1995 12:04 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During arrival, the Beech V35B pilot was cleared for a VOR runway 32 approach. At about the time he was beginning the final approach, the pilot commented that he was experiencing some disorientation. A vector was provided to correct back to course, and the pilot continued the approach. While in a circling maneuver at the conclusion of the approach, the airplane was observed to be flying in the base of clouds. A witness reported that the airplane pitched up abruptly into the clouds, and then it appeared out of the clouds in a steep dive that continued until impact. The weather was estimated near minimums for the approach. After purchasing the Beech V35B, the pilot had completed a 15 hour high performance (VFR) checkout on 10/26/95. His instructor recommended that after getting additional experience in the Beech V35B, he get an instrument checkout in the high performance airplane; instead, he took an instrument proficience check in a Piper PA-28.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the pilot to maintain control of the aircraft during an IFR circling approach. A factor relating to the accident was: the pilot's lack of instrument flight experience in high performance aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/30/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1204 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | DELANO |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93215 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | DELANO MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DLO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 71 |
| Airport Elevation | 313 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1148 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 140 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BFL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 507 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1981 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 30 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1340 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7337R |
| NTSB Number | LAX96FA086 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | V35B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | V35B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-9632 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 12 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 66 |
| Airframe Hours | 2169 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HERITAGE AVIATION, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2316 BAYNARD BLVD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19802 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | P52 |
| Departure City | COTTONWOOD |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | DLO |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 5650 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |